I want to share with you a dark and shameful secret. So sit back and make yourself comfortable because it will be a guilt-ridden confessional joyride. Now, being a feminist supposedly involves being humourless and super-ethical about everything. All that makes it real difficult to deal with guilty pleasures sometimes. That’s because such pleasures often come in unfeminist and unethical shapes.
But why oh why do bad things have to be so bad they’re good?
Not many people know this but I love Kentucky Fried Chicken. That tantalising but delicately spiced aroma is instantly recognisable from a mile away – just don’t get me started on how good it tastes. I also can’t help but feel nostalgic about KFC: it’s reminiscent of my adolescent days when fast food was cool and no one cared about fat and calories. Unfortunately, the act of eating KFC in Britain has become a shameful pastime. With the country’s gastronomic conscience taken over by the likes of Jamie Oliver and being all aspirational about food nowadays, I feel beset by social pressure to eat my battery drumstick and wings in the privacy of my own home – usually while watching a high-brow DVD to cancel out the unrefined nature of my dining experience. Yes, I can be quite sad like that.
Do you feel guilty about the little things in life that you enjoy? Be it excessive shoe shopping, a love of doner kebab, staying up late on a week night, or simply taking long lunch breaks, I’d like to know 🙂
Alicia Izharuddin 
Well done for admitting that!
You know those little mints that restaurants give you with the bill? I take a handful and put them in my jacket pocket for later. Sometimes it’s much later and they’re getting a bit fluffy after rattling around by jacket pocket all that time, but it’s still serendipitous to find one last all-but-forgotten mint on the long stroll to and from work.
Well, I can understand where you are coming from because even though eating is one of my greatest joys, I still deal with guilt. I love chocolate and roast chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. I’m also a fan of pasta dishes like fettuccine alfredo. I have to have CREAM in my tea, not milk because it tastes better (and I only use whole milk because skim/2% is watery and gross) and I prefer butter to margarine.
Another habit I regret is my book habit. I love to read so I buy a lot of books. When I see my account balance (fortunately, I use debit and not credit) I’m troubled. I should get into the habit of going to the library more often. However, I make myself feel better by telling myself that at least I always pay my bills on time.
eternal-llama,
You’ve got good taste in food. I love freshly roasted chicken (with the skin left on, to be eaten of course), potatoes and gravy. Parsnips roasted together with the bird is also great for that caramelised, oozing with chickeny greasiness that I love so much. I’m pretty indiscriminate between butter and margarine, though I’m intrigued by cream in tea – I shall have to try that some day!
I like KFC as well.
My guilty pleasure is coffee. Usually nonfat lattes, or iced mochas. 🙂
I also stay up waaay too late checking blogs at night, after my kids go to sleep. 😀
When I was home, I ate a lot of Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies, Baskin Robbins ice-cream, Rotiboy buns, roti canai and made sure I ate at MacDonald’s a few times.
My excuse is that I can’t find these where I am in Canada, and Malaysian fast food is tastier. I don’t mind the fries much, but when I was in Malaysia, I was struck by just how darn YUMMY the McNuggets were.
In Canada though? Domino’s pizza, New York thin-crust with extra large pepperoni slices and provolone/mozzarella cheese.
And the fact that I buy a LOT of books. Even my favourite webcomic, I’ve sworn to collect the ‘dead-tree versions’. I ought to stop, but I just LOVE the physical act of touching what I read!
Wonderful responses. Funny how most guilty pleasures tend to involve food.
Aynur,
I know people who treat coffee like it’s a naughty habit, rather than a normal, almost ritualistic thing i.e. coffee for breakfast or after meals. But let’s face it, it’s the most innocent and perhaps physiologically beneficial drug that we can have.
Jha,
McDonald’s here in the UK is almost like the devil’s food – it’s the stuff of evil (think MRM) and it can make you hellishly unhealthy and plebeian. But do I care? No, I love McD, too, and all it’s badness.
p/s: McDonald’s nuggets have a serious contender in KFC and ANW for the yummiest chicken nuggets ever in the history of mankind.